Why do you care?
by Jukezorz
Summary: Ash is depressed from the Sinnoh League loss.. A friend tries to help.


It was a few days after the Sinnoh League. The group decided to camp out for the night, on the way back to Kanto. Brock wanted to visit the Pewter Gym, and Dawn felt it'd be best if she came along. She hadn't seen the Ash's home Region yet. The sun was already setting, and dinner was already done.

"Hey guys," Brock started, catching Ash and Dawn's attention. "I'm gonna go get some more firewood, alright?" Dawn smiled and nodded, "sure." Ash simply shrugged and managed out a "mhm" that was almost inaudible. Both Brock and Dawn turned to the teen, his hat covering his eyes as he lay in a slump back against a log. Brock seemed concerned, but shrugged it off for now. He probably just needed time. So the eldest of them went off to do what he'd planned. Dawn however, wasn't so dismissive. She eyed the trainer as she thought the past few days over. He _had_ been acting pretty.. strange lately, since the tournament ended. This probably had to do with his loss in the semi-finals. But from her experience with Ash, she'd expected him to get over it in a few days. But he just wasn't acting like himself. He wasn't eating as much (a MAJOR sign of something wrong, coming from Ash), he wasn't talking much, he just seemed way too down. Even PIKACHU couldn't get through to him. It was all starting to get to be too much for the girl.

~Ash's POV~  
The boy heard leafs crunching beneath someone's feet, breaking his train of thought. He then decided to look up, seeing one of his dearest friends looking over him, a somber expression on her face. "Hm?" Is all he deliberated to say, wondering what was with her. "Ash.." she started, trailing off. "What's wrong? You're really not being yourself..." He was still sore from losing the league, but it was worse than usual. He'd lost before. but not like this. This was the fourth league he'd lost. Ash Ketchum was damn sick of it. He was a failure. He'd tried but he..couldn't pull it off for shit. But, he couldn't let Dawn know he was this upset. It'd hurt his pride. Besides, he didn't want to worry the girl either.

"Nothing, I'll be fine." He tried to fake a smile, but it failed miserably. It was clear she could see through it. _'Damn it,'_ he thought. _'She doesn't need to be stressing over me. I'm not even worth her trouble, I'm just a loser.'_ She was going for a winner when she tried to support him all the time. Too bad it turned out being the wrong guy. "Ash... You're not fooling me, I know you. I don't like seeing you upset like this." The girl sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder as she said this.

~No POV~

Ash's pride got the better of him, though he immediately regretted it. "Dawn, I'm fine, really!" He shrugged her off and got up, stepping away. She felt a pang in her heart as he did this, though she tried to remind herself of the state he was in. He probably didn't mean it. Still though.. That hurt. "Please, Ash, just listen to me!" She stood up, her eyes full of worry. "Just shut up and leave me alone!" He ran off with those words into the woods. Man, did he regret saying that. What kind of idiot was he? Why the hell does she care about it, anyway? Why's she getting into a mess over someone who clearly isn't worth it? He continued to run as these thoughts went through his head.. Then soon, he stopped, just staring at the ground. So much for the Pokemon Master.

Soon, he felt a hand hold onto his wrist. She'd caught up with him? "Ash.. Just..J-just talk to me!" "Dawn, stop! Don't worry about me!" He harshly yanked his arm away, pulling just a little too hard so she lost her balance and fell onto him, knocking them both to the ground, her on top of him. Any other time, and he'd be blushing like mad. But.. when he looked up at her, that didn't seem to matter. Running down her cheeks from her eyes were..tears? Oh man.. He'd gone and screwed up now. "...Ash.." Was all she could weakly manage out, speechless. "Dawn, what's your deal? I'm just some loser, why do you care what's going on with me anyway?" Her expression turned from soft and broken to almost insulted. In resonse, she angrily declared "_Because_, you idiot, I love you!"

~Ash's POV~

Wait... What? She's joking right? There's no way. But.. looking into her eyes.. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. He was never an expert on peoples' feelings, but he saw a lot in her eyes.. Hurt, sorrow, anger..determination, worry.. Maybe she wasn't kidding. But he had no way to know for sure. After all, she could get someone who wasn't a fuck-up. "Wh-what?" "I said, I love you, alright! Jeez.. I thought I'd made it obvious by now." Now that he thought about it.. There _was_ the cheerleading, at three separate gyms, all the support, training, and just general talking up.. The show she put on to cheer him up once, battling Maylene for his sake. But he thought nothing of those things back then. Well, not nothing, but he didn't think she _loved _him, or even _liked _him. She'd just been being nice, right? 'Guess not..' he thought to himself.

Before he could respond, she went on. "Everything I've done, was for you. You think I normally keep a cheerleader costume lying around? You think I go out of my way THIS much for just anyone? I would follow you to the ends of this Earth, Ash Ketchum, and I hate seeing you like this! Let me in, damn it. I want to help you!" ...Holy shit, she wasn't kidding. "But just.. Why me? What the heck makes me so special? I just lose and lose all over again. I'm not even worth your time. Why follow me out here if I'm even gonna act like this?" He again looked into her eyes, curious what she was thinking. Nope, she wasn't giving up. "Ash, give me a break.. Yeah, you lost a tournament, but so what? You got into the semi-finals and put up a good fight against the kind of Pokemon you only hear about in legends! You've told me stories about your adventures, you did what people thought impossible. You took down LANCE with a Pikachu! So you lost a few times. Get the fuck up, and try again! When I say 'no need to worry,' I mean it. I think you're amazing. You may be a little dense some of the time..." Ouch. "But you know what? You're carefree, you're sweet, you're brave, you love your Pokemon, you're great with battles.. you're good looking, you help me, being around you makes me feel safe! And I sure as hell don't normally need someone. but I do need you, because you made me that way. and I'm not going to just sit here while you beat yourself up! I. Love. You. Ash."

Every word was like a stab in his heart... she really thought that? She felt that way about him? Even after all that? Alright.. Enough being a fucking baby. He sighed, almost as if admitting defeat. "Dawn.." She looked into his eyes, looking unsure of what to expect. He was speechless himself, just choosing to stare back into hers, like they could communicate their sentiments just like that. Without a thought even going through his mind, he instinctively leaned a little closer, very slowly. Soon, before she could react, his lips met hers as he wrapped his arms around her. This better fucking work.. She seemed unresponsive. Not rejecting... but motionless. He opened an eye to find her face full of shock.. her cheeks a light pink. It was hard to read.. Crap, crap crap... Did he push it or something?

~No POV~

Then, his thoughts were simply leaked out of his mind when she gave into the kiss, returning it as she leaned into him, lying her arms on either side of him on the ground. The kiss soon turned passionate.. but then they stopped for air, simply gazing into each others' eyes, as if words wouldn't be enough to convey their thoughts. It was only a few seconds later when they heard footsteps, quickly turning their heads to see in front of them, Brock, who was standing holding a large pile of firewood, silent. They both blushed a deep red as Dawn rolled off of him, but not letting go of his hand. "Uhhh..." Brock looked from Dawn's face.. her expression a mix of embarrassment and pure joy.. To Ash's. He looked stunned.. but not depressed like before hand. He smiled, almost laughing to himself a little as he continued to walk, motioning with his hand for them to come along. They looked back to each other, nodded, and got up to follow him back to the campsite.

And that's the story of a future Pokemon Master and a gutsy Coordinator.


End file.
